What a pity the landmark big wheel had to go

AS A Mancunian commuting back into the city on the evening train into Victoria Station, I found the majestic spectacle of the Manchester Wheel rising above the office blocks was a marvellous sight that never failed to engage the other commuters, too.

For me, it was the emblem of Manchester, a city both cosmopolitan and international in its vision of itself.

The Wheel was bold, confident and elegant in its turning and, standing below it, it was uplifting as it took your eyes and soul heavenward.

It was a sister of Urbis. It proferred a new way of experiencing the city, out from those distant hills, back inward through the city lights and, onward, to the innermost world of oneself.

All great cities are more than bricks, steel and glass.

They project themselves as an idea within its people and join with their aspirations for themselves and the world at large.

With the Wheel gone, any vision that embodies Manchester has just grown dimmer.

David Ellis, Burnage

IT was wrong to move the Wheel, and even more so as there is no other place to put it in Manchester.

The Wheel had become part of Manchester and it was good for everyone, especially families and children.

There's a television screen in Piccadilly and lots of big screens in public houses. What is more exciting, watching the TV or being able to view the whole of Manchester from high up?

The football may be shortlived, so the square will become empty again.